


planting seeds in a garden (you'll never get to see)

by philindas



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), you know the fic is sad when the story title is from hamilton
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 18:15:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15515709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/philindas/pseuds/philindas
Summary: Pepper and Tony name their daughter.





	planting seeds in a garden (you'll never get to see)

**Author's Note:**

> I believe it was Cassie who posed this idea on twitter, and I decided to fic it. It's really the first time I've actually written Tony/Pepper on their own, so I hope I got their voices right! Set post-Infinity War. Title is from The World Was Wide Enough from Hamilton.

When Pepper Potts had allowed herself, on those few rare occasions, to think about bringing a child into the world with Tony Stark, it had always been something vibrant- something joyful and bright and exuberant. Just like Tony.

But when Tony returns from space, alone, he is none of those things. The moment he’d walked into Avengers Tower and seen her sitting there, phone to her ear as she tried to call him for the hundredth time, he’d broken down. Pepper knew he’d found a way to convince himself she’d disappeared- that she’d crumbled to dust like so many others of their friends.

In the days following, the world continues to fall apart, and Pepper doesn’t know how to tell Tony about the white stick with two blue lines in the bathroom. She’d taken it on a whim- between his bizarre dream and the unrelenting nausea and headaches she’d been having, she figured it was worth ruling out. Only the test had come back positive, and now half of their friends were gone.

“Pep,” she’s on the phone with Natasha, trying to work out an aid package to send overseas for children who had been orphaned in the wake of Thanos’ snap when Tony calls her name, and Pepper looks up, phone still to her ear, when he walks out with the thin white strip of plastic between his fingers. Her mouth goes dry, and she hangs up on Natasha without another word as Tony looks at her. “Is this…?”

“Yes,” she whispers, heart in her throat.

“You didn’t say anything,” he says, and one of her shoulders drops, hair falling out of its half-hearted ponytail.

“I found out the day everything changed,” Pepper tells him, unable to stop the tears that fill her eyes. “You came back and- and could barely say two words to me. This is supposed to be something happy, Tony- a journey we start together joyfully. How are we ever supposed to have that now?”

Tony’s making his way over to her, dropping to his knees in front of before Pepper has even finished speaking. He takes her hands between his, squeezing tightly as he looks up at her, tears of his own in his eyes.

“I’m so indescribably happy but how can I be when we’ve lost so much?” Pepper asks, voice thick with tears, and Tony lifts one hand to brush them away as they fall, palm cupping her cheek. “And all- all I can think about is how May Parker must feel. And it isn’t fair. None of this is fair, Tony.”

Pepper’s last words are sobs, and Tony shifts so he’s sitting beside her on the couch, and pulls her into his arms, holding her tightly. He presses his lips to her hair, letting her cry into his chest.

When both their cheeks are finally dry, Tony tips Pepper’s chin on, fingers soft against her jaw until she looks at him.

“You are everything to me,” he tells her, feeling her lower lip tremble under his thumb. “And this baby is a blessing. We- we made a child, Pep. Together.”

“A family,” she whispers, half-smiling, and Tony nods, mirroring the expression. “I wanted to tell you. I just-”

“It doesn’t matter. Only that everything else we do now is together,” he interrupts her, cupping her face with both hands, and Pepper nods, covering his hands with hers.

“Always,” she promises, and Tony leans forward, kissing her fiercely as both of their emotions spilt over the edge.

One of his hands made its way to cover her abdomen, and hers followed, protecting what lay beneath. Together.

_

“I had a name idea,” Pepper starts softly one night, and Tony looks up from whatever he’s working on at the desk, swiveling on his stool to look at her curiously. She shifts a little, wincing at the kick that follows, their child clearly unhappy with the change in position, and Tony half gets up, hands outstretched to try to help her. Pepper offers a small smile, shaking her head to let him know it was alright, and he sits back down.

She swallows, unsure of how Tony would take her suggestion- it was so hard to get him to open up to her, with the way he’d closed himself off since returning from space. But they’d both lost someone special with losing Peter; she had cared for Tony’s prodigy deeply. Peter had been a good, kind boy- always willing to help her with anything at the Tower, constantly curious about the aspects of her job no one else was- and always quick with a smile and a one-armed hug before he left to return home at the end of the day.

“What if…we name her Parker?” she frames it like a question, and watches Tony’s throat as he swallows heavily. “Parker Morgan Stark.”

Tony is quiet, and the silence is something Pepper can’t take much more of. She struggles to shift her weight, finally pushing herself until her feet touch the carpeting and she can maneuver herself into a standing position. Making her way over to Tony, she gently touches his face, softening at the way he leaned into her touch instantly.

“It was just an idea,” she whispered, leaning forward to press her cheek to the top of Tony’s head, the space between his legs widening to accommodate her. She feels him shake his head, and pulls back to look at him.

“I think…Pete would have liked that,” he tells her, voice thick, and Pepper strokes her hands over his cheeks, leaning forward to brace her forehead against his.

“He would have loved her, Tony,” she whispers, feeling her eyes burn with unshed tears at the words, and the shaky inhale Tony gives tells her he agrees. “You’re sure?”

Tony’s fingertips are light as they brush along her eyebrow, and Pepper’s eyes shut, leaning into the touch.

“It’s a perfect name, for the perfect girl,” Tony replies, palm outlining the curve of Pepper’s belly, lips quirking up slightly at the kick he receives in reply. “Isn’t that right, Parker?”

Another kick, and Pepper lets out a soft laugh, carding her hands through his hair.

“Come to bed?” she asks, and Tony nods, letting her pull him from the stool and wrapping his arms around her.

“I love you,” he murmurs into her neck, nose in her hair, and Pepper closes her eyes, sinking against him; trusting him to hold her up.

“I know,” she whispers back, and Tony snorts into her neck, pressing a kiss there.

“Alright, Han. You mentioned something about bed.”

_

She is _perfect._

Tony can’t stop starring at this tiny, perfect little creature he gets to call his daughter; she has tiny little fists and tiny little toes and Pepper’s nose. She’s asleep in his arms, tiny and trusting and fragile, and he doesn’t feel worthy of the title ‘father’ when he looks at her.

He walks to the window, watching Parker stir in his arms; she blinks open sleepy, dark eyes and looks at him, lips smacking, and his lips curve into a smile. Pepper is asleep in the bed a few feet away, exhausted, and Steve and Nat and Rhodey are outside the door, keeping watch.

“Hey there, Parker. I’m Dad,” he murmurs, the words foreign and yet somehow _right_ as they fall off his tongue. Parker blinks up at him and Tony adjusts the swaddle around her, keeping her secure and warm.

It’s late evening, the sun setting low along the horizon, and Tony clears his throat quietly before speaking again.

“Mom and I- we named you after a pretty cool guy,” Tony tells her, watching her eyes start to blink a little slower. “A superhero. An Avenger.”

Parker’s breathing evens out, and Tony strokes a finger over her cheek gently.

For a moment, Tony can practically hear the corny movie reference Peter would have made- likely calling some movie that was barely twenty years old ‘really old’ and earning a groan from both he and Pepper. It brings a small, sad smile to his lips, and he lets the hot tear spill over and slide down his cheek, brushing it away before it can fall any further.

“He really would have loved you, sweetheart,” he whispers, lifting his daughter up slightly until he can brush a kiss over her forehead lightly. “I’m sorry you’ll never get to meet him.”

The sun continues to set, dousing the city in darkness, and Tony feels the absence of a friendly neighborhood Spider-man once more.


End file.
